After a Tiring Case
by Alligates
Summary: Everyone at the BAU is exhausted, but none as much as the young Doctor Spencer Reid, who'd been running on nothing more than coffee for five days. Hotch decides to drive him and Morgan home. Then Reid falls asleep in the car. NO SLASH, just really fluffy fluff, I hope. Can probably be seen as slash if you want. Twoshot, by popular demand. Please REVIEW!
1. Falling asleep in the boss' car

**NO SLASH (unless you want it to be) it's just reaaaaally fluffy**

**Season : Around 6-7 (mainly for Spencer's short hair... which I adore X3 if you don't like it, then you can of course imagine it as another season ^^ whatever works for you)**  
**Featuring (in order of appearance) : SSA Aaron Hotchner, SSA Doctor Spencer Reid, SSA Derek Morgan, Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia, and Clooney the dog. **  
**Disclaimer : as much as it pains me, the wondrous glory that is Criminal Minds does not belong to me. And never will *sigh* but that's what fanfiction is for ahaha!**  
**Warning : Rather unhealthily injected with fluff and the warped mind of a Criminal Minds fan O_e and first CM story, be warned. **  
**No one's POV. **

**I hope you like it! *wrings hands nervously* Well, what are you doing still reading this? Go on, read the story! You know you want to~ (and please review :3)**

"The case is closed. You're all free to go home," said Aaron Hotchner to his teammates.

Everyone visibly relaxed at those words. The end of a case was often like passing an exam, if only just. No one really thought about it as they piled into their respective modes of transport and sped off, back to their simpler lives.

It had been a very tiring case, somewhere along the lines of 'genius UnSub' and 'ten dead children'. Hotch himself had had little sleep during the five days, but that was nothing compared to Spencer Reid, who'd done nothing but drink coffee and work on the case, practically solving it single-handedly. You could see the large collection of empty cups on the young man's desk, and around all of his working areas, and flooding the garbage cans. Derek Morgan, on the other hand, had been doing rather well, knowing when to go home and when to keep working. He wasn't quite as tired as the others.

Morgan stood beside Reid as he looked around for a full cup of coffee. He found one and grinned lopsidedly at it, and then Morgan swept it out of his hands and dumped the liquid into a nearby garbage can, earning puppy-like big sad brown eyes filled with confusion from the young doctor. That look made most people melt, but Derek was immune to it, having been subjected to it more than once before.

"You don't need any more coffee, Reid." Reid pouted and resumed his search, shuffling about, not having listened. Derek rolled his eyes and went back over to his own desk.

Penelope Garcia fell into step beside Morgan, who was calmly packing up his stuff.

"Hey, Garcia," he said, "aren't you heading home?"

"Oh yeah, definitely," she nodded, her curly hair bouncing a little, "I was just waiting for you, my Chocolate Thunder."

"Why?" asked Derek, laughing slightly.

"Oh, you know," she continued softly, "you're my main man, my Chocolate Adonis, I need to make sure you're all right after such a case." Morgan laughed.

"Baby Girl, you know I'll always be alright," he said. Garcia smiled.

"Yeah, I _know_," she said seductively. There was a pause in which the two remained in companionable silence. Then, "I was also wondering if you'd check on my junior G-man over there," she said, motioning with her head to Spencer, who was swaying slightly with fatigue.

"I'll take care of the kid, don't worry," he said, glancing over and shaking his head at the kid in question's pathetic display of tiredness as he leaned on his desk and shoved things blindly into a bag. Garcia nodded, beaming.

"Thanks, Hot Stuff."

"No need to thank me, Baby Girl. Get home safe."

"Be safe, my love," she said, and then she was out the glass door and into the outside world.

Morgan looked around for a second. The only people left in the building were himself, Hotch, and Reid, who seemed dead on his feet, and had started nodding. He caught Hotch looking at the young genius too, and they exchanged a glance. Hotch nodded.

"Reid, Morgan, I'll take you home," he called, trying to sound nonchalantly stoic as oppose to caring. He knew he had a reputation, after all. Reid lifted his head and opened his mouth to voice a protest, but Derek beat him to it.

"Thanks, Hotch," he said, and walked over to Reid. "Come on, Pretty Boy, let's get home." Reid nodded slowly, not really taking in his words. When finally he'd managed to stuff all of his papers into the bag, Morgan placed a hand on his back and steered him to where Hotchner was waiting. Derek nodded at him.

"Let's go."

* * *

It didn't take long to get into the car, since they were all anxious to be finally going home. Hotch drove, it being his car, while Morgan stayed with Spencer in the back seat. Only when Aaron had already started the car did Reid realize where he was and started to protest.

"Um, Hotch, I really don't want to cause you any trouble-" he began.

"It's all right, Reid," his boss said softly.

"It may be, but-"

"Reid?" intercepted Morgan. Spencer turned his head to face him.

"Mm?"

"Just go with it," he said simply. Reid was about to respond, then thought better of it and closed his mouth. He turned to look out the window. He yawned widely, politely covering his mouth with a hand while he did so. The other two team members figured he was finally going to be quiet, but he wasn't done yet.

"Hotch?" he said quietly.

"Yes, Reid?" Spencer hesitated.

"Thank you," he ended up saying. Hotch smiled into the rearview mirror.

"You're welcome, Spencer," he said. The young genius was too tired to acknowledge the use of his fist name.

They rode off in silence, the occasional passing car the only sound. Derek noted that Reid was looking more and more tired as the drive wore on, his entire upright being swaying with every turn. His eyelids were slowly drooping and he was nodding, but every time his chin came close to his chest, his head would snap up, only to repeat the process.

"Kid," Derek said softly. The doctor didn't seem to hear him. Derek shook him slightly, causing his head to jerk up and to whip around to look at him. Once Derek was sure he was listening, he began again, "Kid, you know that you can go to sleep if you want to, right?" Reid frowned and blushed slightly.

Spencer wanted more than anything else to be able to go to sleep, but he was in his boss' car, in _Hotch's_ car, with Morgan, his co-worker, next to him. He just found it too embarrassing. But Morgan had just told him that he could... well, he'd known all along that he _could_, he just didn't want to be humiliated. Reid turned back to the window, taking in the blurring lights and bluish darkness that was the night. The lights began to blur some more, and Spencer decided that they were prettier that way. He then realized that he was falling asleep. _Not now_, he told himself, _you can sleep for a week in your apartment. If you go to sleep now, you won't be able to later_. That last statement wasn't exactly true, since he might not even be able to wake up to get into his apartment...

... and with a sigh, his eyelids fluttered shut and the young man's head dropped onto Morgan's shoulder. Morgan had been expecting him to drop off sooner or later, just not on _him_. Derek just smiled, accepting the situation, and put an arm around the sleeping doctor's shoulders, steadying him. His longish hair tickled Morgan's neck-though he was grateful that he'd cut it, since it would otherwise have been too much to bear, going all over the place. Spencer nuzzled further into his neck when he felt an arm around him. Morgan unconsciously started stroking his hair.

Hotch glanced into the rearview mirror and smiled. It reminded him of his own son, falling asleep in the car. He almost wished Garcia were here, just to see her reaction.

Then again, Garcia would probably squeal and ruin the moment, as was her special way.

* * *

The trio soon arrived at Reid's apartment building, but Reid wouldn't get up.

"Reid," said Morgan, shaking him slightly, "we're at your apartment, it's time to go." Reid did not stir. Derek shook him a bit harder.

"Hmmmmmm," Spencer said sleepily, making no move to get up, only nuzzling further into his teammate's shoulder. Morgan sighed, and stepped out of the car, gently laying Reid down on the seat. He turned to Hotch.

"We could carry him inside," he suggested, shrugging. Hotch frowned and looked at his sleeping agent.

"You want to carry him up all those stairs? What do you think he'll do when he wakes up?" A stray note of concern sneaked into his voice, diminishing his tone of authority. "Someone should look after him." In all honesty, the young man could probably take care of himself just fine, but Derek and Aaron were not willing to just dump him and leave; it seemed dangerous somehow, even if it really wasn't. There was just something about Doctor Spencer Reid that activated people's motherly instincts. Or fatherly. "I'll take him," suggested Hotch.

"Nah, it's okay Hotch, you take care of Jack. I can take care of him for a day or so."

"You sure?" asked Hotch. Derek laughed.

"I might need to buy more sugar for him to put in his coffee, but I think I can handle the kid." Hotch gave a small smile and nodded.

"Okay. Back in the car."

Morgan gently lifted Reid back into a semi-upright position, and sat down beside him. Instead of leaning Spencer against his shoulder again, he picked up his head and rested it on his lap, onto which he had placed his rolled-up jacket, creating a makeshift pillow. Reid didn't stir throughout the whole process, which would've been worrying if it wasn't known that he hadn't had much of any sleep in five days, running only on coffee. Morgan was slightly amazed that he had lasted as long as he had without simply dropping to the floor in the bullpen. Exactly how much sugar did the kid put in his coffee?  
In the car, this close to Reid, Derek took in how tired he really looked. The dark circles under his eyes were far more protruding than normal, and he was a little paler than he usually was. He looked a lot younger when he was asleep. Snapping out of his musings, Morgan resumed petting his friend. Spencer mumbled something incoherently and curled up on the seat, snuggling further into Derek's lap. Morgan smiled for the umpteenth time that car ride.  
The trio rode off, peacefully spurred by the soft breathing of their youngest agent.

* * *

"Morgan, wake up," said Hotch. Morgan snapped to awareness, having fallen asleep on the ride home. Hotch was leaning in through the open door, shaking him. He smiled slightly when Morgan frowned at him, looking slightly oppressed. "Somebody's tired," he chuckled. The fog cleared out of Derek's eyes, and the frown lessened.

"Oh, sorry Hotch," he said sheepishly. He, like Spencer, found the idea of falling asleep in his boss' car embarrassing.

"Don't worry about it." Hotch helped him out of the vehicle, stepping aside as Morgan lifted Reid out as if he weighed nothing, one arm under his knees and the other around his shoulders. Hotch grinned all the while. "Besides, I already took pictures," he added impishly as Derek reached the stairs. The agent in question froze immediately, slowly circling to face his superior.

"You _what_?" he asked dangerously. He blinked as a click and a flash went off, eventually fading to reveal a still-grinning Hotch, holding up his cell phone.

"I have another one now," he said. He smiled wider still as he admired the small image on the screen. "I bet Garcia would love this. You look very protective," he chuckled. Morgan glared daggers at him.

"Do you realize what my Baby Girl could do to those pictures with PhotoShop?" he asked, a hint of a smile in his voice.

"You're right," said Aaron, his tone back to serious authority. "I'm going to send them now," he continued, still very serious.

"Hotch..." sighed Derek. He really didn't want those pictures floating around the internet, and knowing Garcia, she would make it happen.

"Sending..."

"Hotch!" exclaimed Derek, panicked that his boss was serious. Then Hotch put his phone back in his pocket.

"Sent." He walked back to his car, then stopped at the door, turning around. "I'll send you the pictures when Garcia's done with them," he said, still entirely serious, but Morgan could see the smile in his eyes.

Derek chuckled, shaking his head. "There's another side to you, Hotch." He turned around and unlocked his front door, careful of not bumping his teammate into the walls on the way in.

Aaron Hotchner glanced one last time at his subordinates before closing the car door, driving away in the dark. He imagined Penelope's neighbours waking up in confusion from the sounds of her squeals as she saw the pictures. He smiled at the thought. He half wondered-half dreaded what the technical analyst would do to the pictures.

And to those thoughts, he parked into his driveway, ready to greet his son Jack, who was probably waiting for him.

* * *

"Well, welcome to my place, Pretty Boy," Morgan mumbled, more to himself than to his sleeping compatriote. He set Reid into a seated position on the couch, head lolling forwards, for a moment, as he shut the door. Then he ran upstairs to get a pillow and a blanket, and made the couch a respectable place to sleep on. He laid his friend down and tucked him in, not bothering to hide the fact that he was being a mother hen.

He was about to head upstairs himself, when he heard the scuffling and clicking noise of dog paws and claws on the hard wooden floor. Clooney.

He grinned tiredly as his dog trotted over and sat in front of him, staring up at his master with his tongue lolling out. "Hey Clooney," he murmured, rubbing his dog's head tenderly. Clooney panted contently. The dog then promptly pattered over to the couch and hauled himself onto it, snuggling into the sleeping young man's chest. Morgan frowned in bemusement and stepped forwards to get his dog off his friend. But Clooney looked up and stared at him with his big puppy eyes. Morgan found it hard not to melt under that gaze. He sighed.

"Clooney," he warned. The look intensified and Clooney whimpered pitifully. "Fine," he huffed in surrender, "but just for tonight, okay? And if he wakes up, you _get off_." The dog panted happily for a moment before he rubbed his chin against Spencer's head and closed his eyes. Derek chuckled softly, rather amused at the sight, before bidding them a quiet '_good night_' and plodded up the stairs, more than ready to collapse into his bed.

And that is exactly what he did, snuggling into the covers and feeling like he was melting into the mattress. They would all be okay, he realized.

No matter how bad the case was, they would always get through it, together.

That's what families do.

**Well! There you go, a hugemongous plot bunny just exploded in your face... sorry. I hope you liked the fluff! And I hope I did well 6_9 I got attacked by the writer's block soooo often... T'IS EVIL, MY FRIENDS. **

**Please review! Reviewers get imaginary pie!  
Thank you~! ^^  
**


	2. Exploiting the pictures

**By popular demand, here is chapter two!  
STILL NOT SLASH though it's probably easy to imagine it as if you want XD**

**I apologize for how long it ended up lol... so, this is me, fighting writer's block.**  
**Warning : Contains some more fluff, the rest of the BAU (yay),** **a short scene with oversized clothes (ehehehe),** **descriptions of the PhotoShopped pictures (ohoho), chamomile tea, a squealing Rossi (yes, squealing) and a hell of a lot of words! Which, by now, should all lead to the same conclusion; this is something of a crackfic. I'm so sorry.  
But I regret nothing.**

**Well! All mistakes are my own, as I unfortunately do not own Criminal Minds ;_; Please review! I hope I did well aaaah...**

Spencer Reid woke up to a warm wall of golden fur that smelled suspicious.

He let out a small startled yelp when he saw the wall was moving, as if it were breathing. He heard loud breathing... but it didn't sound human.

Reid stayed still, frozen with fear, as the animal shook itself and hopped off his form, landing a little heavily on the wooden floor. He stared at the big golden retriever, who simply stared back with large eyes, wondering what was going on. He didn't have wooden floors; they were carpeted at his apartment... Where was he? He remembered the case ending... and his brain had been smothered in honey because he was so tired. Coffee could only last so long. And then he'd got in the car with Hotch and Morgan... and then...?

Spencer subconsciously backed up further into the couch as the dog took a couple steps forwards. It was panting, tongue lolling uselessly out to the world. Why wasn't the Reid Effect working? The young doctor had no idea how to treat animals; they always stayed away from him. Well, except for this one. Was there something wrong with its mind or something?

The staring contest went on for a while longer, and then the dog turned away, walking out of Spencer's line of sight. He took advantage of the distraction to look around. He was sitting on a three-seat red leather couch with a soft blanket across his knees and a light pillow on the seat where his head had been. There was a big window taking up most of the wall in front of him, and through the opening between the brown curtains he could see the bright morning sunlight making ribbons in the ever-present fine dust in the air. To the right of the window was a wooden brown front door with a window in the top half that let in more light. As he turned around, he saw a staircase going up and out of view, and further back was a kitchen. The latter was where the dog currently resided; acting like it owned the place. Reid got up with the intention of finding out more about his surroundings, namely in whose house he was, but was stopped when a large, dark figure tromped down the stairs, yawning.

Morgan.

He stretched his mouth open widely, utterly ignoring the other presence in the room, and made his voice known through a loud groan. The dog came pattering over to sit contentedly on his obvious master's feet. Derek grinned and crouched down, rubbing the animal's head.

"Hey, Clooney, what are you doing here? I thought you were guarding the kid," he cooed, slightly jokingly. Spencer chose that moment to let out a small cough. Morgan looked up at him. He waved.

"Oh hey," Morgan said, standing up to face his friend. "Pretty Boy, I see you've met Clooney."

Spencer cut right to it. "Morgan, where am I?"

The other agent frowned for a moment before remembering. "Oh right, you wouldn't remember... you're at my house." Spencer seemed rather surprised by that.

"Really? I mean... why?"

"Why what?"

Spencer wrung his hands nervously. "Why am I at your house?"

Morgan chuckled. "Because you wouldn't stay awake long enough to get off at your own place." Spencer blushed and looked away awkwardly.

"Um, sorry," he muttered, embarrassed.

"It's nothing," Derek laughed. By then, he was standing beside his friend, watching amusedly as he squirmed under his gaze.

"Um. Well, you know, um... thank you, for... Morgan what's wrong with your dog?" he blurted as Clooney strode over and sat pointedly on his foot.

Morgan chuckled. "Wow, I think this defies the Reid Effect!"

Spencer appeared alarmed by that statement. "But... Morgan is there something wrong with your dog?"

"Why would there be?" he asked, shrugging.

"Well, most dogs, and some children for that matter, have this ability to 'sense your fear' as people say, which is actually most likely due to hypersensitivity to posture change and-"

"Not now, Reid," the older agent groaned, robbing his bald head and setting off towards the kitchen. "It's only morning!"

Reid was taken aback. "All I said was-"

"Do you want some breakfast, Pretty Boy?" Morgan interrupted hastily, not wanting to be subjected to another bout of rambling.

Spencer stopped short. "What?"

"You're kinda slow without your coffee, aren't you? Come on, I'll make you an omelette or something."

"Oh," Spencer said incredulously. Derek would make breakfast for him? How... kind. "Um. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Reid." Derek was getting a pan to cook on and had his back turned, so Reid couldn't see his amused grin.

* * *

An hour later, Spencer was wearing a pair of Morgan's T-shirts and a pair of pants, the former of which was clearly a number of sizes too big, and he clutched it to his small form to keep warm.

Derek shook his head. "Kid, you look ridiculous."

Spencer pouted, a little offended. "Well, I can't very well go out in clothes that I've slept in!"

Derek shrugged. "Doesn't stop you looking ridiculous."

The young doctor glared at his friend, picking up his possessions and heading for the door. "Let's just go." He took two steps before his pants-well, Morgan's pants-dropped from his hips and hit the floor. He emitted a yelp and pulled the T-shirt down so it covered more of him, not that he'd had to. The shirt was big enough to be a dress on him.

Morgan snickered. "You sure, Pretty Boy?"

Reid blushed furiously as he snatched his pants back up and held them so they wouldn't fall again. "That would be unsanitary!" he exclaimed defensively. He marched through the door without looking back. Morgan grinned as he picked up the discarded clothes that he'd dropped during his antics.

Derek ushered Spencer into the car like a chauffeur, ignoring the glare he got, and they drove off to Spencer's apartment.

* * *

Spencer got dressed as quickly as possible, throwing on some pants and his dark blue and purple dress shirt. Morgan had yet to tell him why they were going back to the BAU, but he hurried nevertheless.

He blindly grabbed a tie and tied it as he half-ran around his apartment. Derek was watching amusedly all the while, leaning in a carefree manner on the wall by the door. He nearly got barreled into as Reid ran up to the door to grab his converse. He was hopping about on one foot, trying to force a shoe on, when he asked the question.

"Hey, Morgan, why are we going to the BAU? We have the day off, don't we?"

The other agent shrugged in what he hoped was a nonchalant manner. "I have to pick up some files." Spencer stopped hopping.

"Then why am I coming?"

Morgan tried not to take too long gathering his answer. "_We_ have to pick up some files."

Spencer put his yet-to-be-shoe-clad foot down. "You're lying to me," he stated.

Morgan tried a different tactic. He tilted his head and grinned in that way which made women love him. "Come on, Pretty Boy, put your shoe on."

"Please stop staring at me... it's creepy," said Spencer, shuddering a little as he took a step back. "Now why are we going?"

Derek sighed. He didn't want to tell him, but he had one more tactic. He stepped forwards and picked up his friend's shoe. He held it in his hand a moment longer, observing it, and then he opened the door and chucked it towards the car.

"Morgan!" Reid stepped forwards in a reflexive attempt at saving his shoe, just as Derek had predicted. Without hesitating, he grabbed him around the knees and hoisted the skinny young man onto his shoulder. "_Morgan!_"

Derek said nothing as he stepped out the door, locking it behind him with the key he'd pried from Spencer's fingers. He walked down the three steps to his front yard.

"Oh my God," Spencer mumbled as he realized they were on a staircase, albeit a short one. "Please don't drop me..." As soon as Morgan stepped down, he went back to fighting. "Okay now put me down." Derek did nothing. "Morgan! Put me down!" He didn't physically try to get away, because that would probably result in Morgan falling and him landing on his face on the unforgiving ground.

Around the fifth '_put me down_', Morgan complied, shoving Reid into the shotgun seat of his car. He bent down to pick up the discarded shoe that had landed there, and tossed it to Reid, who awkwardly caught it and untied it to slip on his foot. Morgan shut the door, walking around to the driver's side.

"Morgan, what's going on? What happened last night?"

Derek sighed as he started the car. "Hotch... did some... _things_."

"What kind of 'things'? It he okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine... and we're probably not going to be," he added under his breath.

Spencer heard him. "What did you do?"

"Me?" he exclaimed defensively. "It was Hotch and Garcia!"

"Garcia?"

"I had _nothing_ to do with this."

"Yes, well, Morgan, what _is_ 'this'?"

The older agent sighed resignedly. "Hotch took some... pictures."

"Pictures of what?" Morgan stared at him. How could he be so smart, yet so _oblivious_ at the same time?

"What do you think? He sent them to Garcia."

Reid paled in realization. "Wha... he... what?"

"That's right Reid," Morgan huffed. "He took pictures of us while we were asleep, and sent them to Garcia."

"'Us'?" Spencer repeated. "You fell asleep?"

"Yes, well, we need to go to the BAU to make sure Baby Girl didn't destroy our lives with those pictures."

"Oh." Reid turned back to his shoe, and finished tying it.

Derek frowned in bemusement. "You don't seem very disturbed, Pretty Boy. Your social life is about to _die_."

Spencer looked up calmly. "I don't have a social life," he said simply, if not a little proudly. Morgan shook his head and turned back to the road. No point in arguing with him.

* * *

The bullpen was oddly quiet, as most of its occupants had gone home.

Yet Spencer and Derek had bumped into Emily on the way in, followed by JJ, and then Rossi. Garcia and Hotch were presumably already inside, plotting their downfall. No one had stayed home, then.

"So, Prentiss, what brings you here? We have the day off," asked Morgan.

"Could say the same about you."

"I have some files to pick up," he answered curtly. She didn't buy it.

"Really? Because, Garcia called me, and said she had some _pictures_ she wanted me to see."

"Yeah," piped up JJ, "she called me too... What about you, Rossi?"

"I shouldn't have to tell you young people why I would do anything," he replied, looking ahead.

"Aw, come on, Rossi," pleaded Emily.

"Fine," he snickered, "Kitten called."

"Okay," said Morgan, clapping his hands and stepping in front of everyone and turning to face them, blocking their path. "You do not want to see those pictures."

"Ooh," said Prentiss, smiling impishly, "now I _really_ want to see them."

"No you don't," Reid said hastily.

JJ raised an eyebrow. "What's in the pictures, Spence?" she demanded slowly.

Spencer gulped and said nothing.

"Spence..."

"I can honestly say I don't know," he admitted. Everyone turned simultaneously to face Morgan once more.

"Anything to say, Derek?" Rossi asked innocently.

The man in question shook his head emphatically.

"Right," continued Dave, "So if we go in there, we _won't_ find Penelope squealing over-and probably PhotoShopping-some pictures of you and Reid asleep in Hotch's car?"

Rossi smirked as Reid paled and Morgan stared at him. The girls cooed, beginning to gossip.

"Rossi how did you...?"

"I'm a profiler, Morgan. Reid looked dead on his feet-"

"Hey!"

"-and you looked a little tired too. I guessed that Aaron would probably feel bad for you and not think it safe to leave you on the road or train or whatever, so he drove you home. And I've seen the pictures on his phone of his son asleep in the car, so I figured he'd do the same to you. And since Garcia called us all, it's only obvious that Hotch sent her the pictures."

Morgan frowned. "You're making it easy to hate you, Rossi."

Rossi shrugged indifferently. "I get that a lot."

JJ and Prentiss, followed hesitantly by Reid, had sneaked past the two bickering men into the bullpen and had just gotten to Hotch's office when Morgan noticed and spun around.

"Whoa there. You get back here!"

"In your dreams, Morgan. I am seeing those pictures," stated Emily, edging closer and closer to Hotch's door.

"Reid, grab them!"

"What?" The moment of confusion was all Prentiss needed to grab the door handle and bolt through the opening.

"Hotch!" As she peered inside, she saw that no one was inside. "Hoch?" She stuck her head out the door, facing the others. "Guys, he's not in here."

"Good! Let's all go home," Derek suggested hopefully.

"No way," said JJ, walking over to side with Emily. "I really want to see what's in those pictures too."

"Kitten called," Rossi stated simply, striding over under Morgan's barricading arm, ignoring his protest.

Just then, Garcia skipped in through the hallway leading to her lair. She let out an exclamation of content surprise as she saw the occupants of the bullpen. She said nothing, but motioned for them all to follow her, beaming. She ruffled Reid's hair as he passed. She stood like a doorman-or door_woman_-until Morgan, utterly defeated, passed by her. She gripped his arm possessively and guided him into the room, letting out excited giggles every now and then.

"Garcia, what's in the photos?" Prentiss asked animatedly as they walked.

Penelope spoke loudly, even as Derek tried to drown out her words with a groan. "You'll have to wait and see, my darlings!"

"Garcia..." Reid began uncertainly.

"Speak, Oh Wise Sleeping Beauty."

Spencer looked a little disgruntled as he continued. "Did you... do anything... to the pictures?"

She let out a knowing chuckle. "Whatever could you mean, Reid?"

"Baby Girl, did you PhotoShop me?" Morgan cut in abruptly. Prentiss mock gasped.

"Oh I must see those pictures now," she said as she opened the door to Garcia's nest of technology. Rossi, JJ and Penelope waltzed in happily.

Derek put a hand on Spencer's shoulder, stilling him when he tried to follow. "Whoa there, Kid. It's not safe in there."

"You're not going inside?"

Morgan shook his head. "I don't think you or I want to see what she's done to us."

Spencer frowned innocently. "Why not?" Morgan stared at him and shook his head.

There was squealing from inside. The two standing awkwardly by the door jerked in surprise.

For the squeal came from none other than SSA David Rossi, the seasoned profiler.

"Rossi?" Reid called nervously, swallowing. "Are you... um... okay?"

"Aww, Reid, get in here!"

Spencer visibly paled and looked to Morgan for help. The older man shook his head, his eyes speaking for him;_ it's a trap_.

"Spence, we're not going to hurt you! But you _have _to see these," JJ called, not taking her eyes off the screen. Reid retreated behind the wall, out of their line of sight.

"Guys, you're scaring Reid!" Morgan called from where he too had hidden.

"Ooh ooh ooh guys look at the next one!" Garcia said excitedly. There was a click, and then their collective cooing made its way into the hallway, into the ears of Hotch, who had been walking by. Said person stopped in his tracks, raising an eyebrow at the two by the door.

"The pictures?"

They nodded.

Hotch nodded back, seeming very satisfied. "You can thank me later."

Before either could utter a protest, their unit chief strode into the chamber to join the other crazies. They could hear his voice seconds later. "Aww, Morgan, I _told _you you looked protective!" Spencer frowned, obviously confused.

"Morgan, what-"

"No."

Garcia suddenly trotted out, flapping her hands and squealing. She grabbed the young doctor by the hand and dragged him inside. He was too confused to fight back. She tugged him to the monitor where everyone was crowded around.

"Guys! Guys move over," she ordered, pushing Spencer in between Hotch and JJ.

Then Reid saw the picture.

His face turned so red; you would have thought that every ounce of blood in his body had been stored there. He covered his face with his hands and turned away, groaning.

"Something wrong, Pretty Boy?" Morgan asked, still not seeing but hearing from the doorway. Moments later, he was dragged in by a snickering Rossi.

The sight he was introduced to was strange. Hotch was grinning manically at him; Spencer next to him had his face covered, but what you could see of it was bright red; JJ was gaping at the screen; Prentiss bore a similar expression to her friend; and Penelope was watching the whole scene proudly.

Then Rossi pushed him forwards, and he caught a glimpse of the screen.

He did _not _like what he saw.

It was the picture where he was carrying Reid in his arms, and he indeed looked protective, but Garcia had PhotoShopped his mouth so it was open, as if he were yelling. There was a pink speech bubble next to his head that read '_GET YO HANDS OFFA MAH BABY_'. Spencer, unfortunately or fortunately it was not known, had not been changed, so he was still asleep. In Derek's arms. Thankfully, this time Garcia had left Morgan's clothes _on_, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

That didn't mean it _wasn't_ bad.

"Oh, Penelope... You PhotoShopped me!" he accused angrily.

"Oh, like I haven't done _that _before," she snickered.

"Ooh! Can I see?" Prentiss asked eagerly.

"Sorry, they're locked up and away. All mine." She walked over and took possession of her computer, clicking and typing rhythmically. She stopped after a second or so, completing the final click with a flourish. "Let's watch it from the beginning for our boys, shall we?" There were murmurs of assent, but everyone was paying attention to the screen.

The first photo made Derek blush a tiny bit, but Reid had already attained his redness limit. Everyone else was cooing, letting out a few '_aww'_s. It was of when Spencer had first fallen asleep; his head was nestled in Derek's neck, and Derek was seemingly taking advantage of the situation, for he was _petting _Spencer. He was staring indifferently out the window, completely oblivious to the camera that had been pointed at him. It didn't seem to have been altered.

"It was too perfect to change," Garcia cooed to the other women.

"Hotch!" Morgan cried. "How could you?" Spencer whimpered, shaking his head in his hands. Hotch chuckled gleefully, ignoring them.

The second photo made Derek pale and Reid squeak in embarrassment, burying his face further in his hands. It was a picture of Spencer and Derek sitting-or lying, in Spencer's case-in the backseat, both fast asleep. Reid's head was on Derek's lap as he lay curled up on the seat. Derek had a hand resting lazily on his friend's head, fingers entwined in his hair; his own head was lolling back with his mouth agape.

"I PhotoShopped out the drool," Penelope explained. Morgan let out and indignant noise. He did _not _drool.

Spencer had let his hands drop to his sides. He just looked utterly horrified.

"Aww, Spence, that's _so _cute!" said JJ, staring at the image.

"It is," Prentiss laughed, agreeing. "Aww, look at that right there..." She pointed to the top of Spencer's head, where Derek's fingers were laced through his hair.

One by one, everyone, save Derek, reached out a hand to ruffle the resident genius' head. He remained unmoving, not even acknowledging their presences; Spencer was staring straight ahead with wide eyes, looking shocked. He wasn't even moving, except for his breathing. He wasn't even blushing anymore, and was instead paling to a dangerous seeming level.

JJ got a little worried when he remained unresponsive. "Spence? You in there?"

Emily poked him in the cheek. "Reid?"

Garcia gasped and clutched his face between her hands, peering into his empty eyes. "Guys, you broke him!"

Morgan, getting over his embarrassment rather quickly and replacing it with anger, glanced over. "Oh yeah, that happened once before. You guys remember when he went to try and stop a victim's father from killing the UnSub in front of his own daughter? That case back in California, when those kids abducted two girls and killed one? And the whole witness protection fiasco thing? When we found Reid in the bathroom with the kid whose brains had been blasted out, he was just like this."

"Oh yeah," said Hotch, remembering. "But he was okay after that, right?" he continued, waving a hand in front of his subordinate's face. Spencer didn't as much as blink.

Morgan frowned. "It didn't last this long last time..."

JJ snapped her fingers. "Spence?"

That seemed to do something, at least. Reid blinked, jarred out of his trance. He glanced up, focusing on each person separately.

"You okay there Spencer?" Prentiss asked. "You had a little panic attack moment there."

"What... yeah, yeah, I'm fi-oh God, it's engraved in my memory forever!" he groaned, clutching his head in his hands.

"Well, then, just... don't think about it," Morgan suggested.

Reid looked up and glared at him. "I have an eidetic memory, Morgan. It's like staring at something really unusual, like a... giant purple elephant with blue polka-dots," he said, waving his arms around for emphasis, "and trying not to think about it! It's worse, actually! I will never un-see that, Morgan. _Never_."

"Is that a bad thing?" Garcia giggled.

"I'm going to need sever hypnosis to get over this... Hotch, you must know that I respect you, very much in fact, but I can _never _forgive you for doing this to me."

Hotch smiled, as if he was expecting that answer. He leaned forward and patted the younger man's head.

Spencer groaned and rubbed his face tiredly. "You have scarred me. And I _won't_ forget, no matter how much I want to."

"Hey, Reid," Prentiss said, holding out a cup to him. "Drink this coffee."

Reid frowned. "Why, did you put something in it?"

Emily snickered. "No, but it should calm you down."

"How on Earth does coffee calm someone down? It's supposed to do quite the opposite, actually. The caffeine inside causes your heart to pump faster and your breathing to quicken, so no, it does _not _help people calm down." As he was speaking, he had blindly grabbed the cup and taken a sip of it. "... Emily, this isn't coffee."

Emily frowned innocently. "Isn't it?"

JJ tugged her friend's arm and muttered in her ear. "What did you put in there?"

Prentiss beamed. "It's chamomile tea."

Penelope, who had been eavesdropping, gasped in realization. "Someone guard the coffee machine before he realizes!"

Unfortunately, she wasn't very quiet about it, and Morgan, who did _not _want a repeat of last night, ran out of the room. "Nooo, no no no, hang on Kid, I'll get you some coffee!"

"Well," said Rossi, clapping his hands, "if there's nothing more, I would like very much to get back to my couch."

Morgan's voice was carried down the hall as he yelled. "Don't let the girls get you, Reid!"

Spencer wasn't listening. He was frowning down at his cup, trying to figure out what was inside. "Prentiss, is this chamomile?"

"Why? How do you feel?" she asked, trying not to look guilty.

Reid swayed slightly. "Pretty good, actually..."

"Oh, is that so? Well, I've got to go make sure Morgan didn't run into a wall... so, bye." And with that, she ran out the door to get Morgan, or dismantle the coffee machine. Whichever came first.

"Hm. Come on, Spence, I'll drive you home," said JJ, laying a hand on his shoulder and steering him away.

That left Hotch and Garcia alone in the room, surrounded by computers and stuffed animals. Garcia frowned as Hotch stepped towards her, not seeming to have any intention to leave quite yet.

"Garcia."

"Yes, sir?"

He pointed up at an area above her head. "Is that a security camera?"

Penelope whirled around to face the lens of the device. Her face broke into a smile as she faced her boss once more. "I'll get the tapes immediately."

Aaron laughed as she pattered off, muttering about how much fun she was going to have.

It was probably very inappropriate behaviour, and would no doubt be frowned on by anyone of a higher authority.

But they were a family, so it was okay.

**WHOO I'M DONE! Can you _believe _it? I can't! I thought I would procrastinate my face off, and then today my brain just went GO FOR IT.**  
**So I did.**  
**I regret nothing, save the length of this bloody darn thing...**

**Don't be scared to leave a review! They inspire meee!**  
**Thank you to all the people who asked me to do this! I hope I met your standards!**  
***dies***


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